Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the spring onion and garlic for 1 minute.

Add the potato and stock and simmer until the potato is very tender (about 20 minutes)

Add the spinach, mint and ¾ of the peas and simmer for another 5 minutes

Then add the crème fraîche and blend with a stick blender or food processor

Season then serve with the remaining peas, an extra swirl of crème fraîche and/or good quality (basil) olive oil (and some crusty bread, if you like)

Despite the use of stick blender or even a food processor, the peas will give you a slightly coarse soup. If you want it entirely smooth, use a wooden spoon or ladle to push the soup through a sieve. You can also decide to return part of pea “residue” from the sieve back into the soup. I put about half back in the soup (and the remainder was used by Chantal to stir through some mashed potatoes the next day). In both cases, just reheat the soup over low heat (don’t let it come to a boil!) just before serving.